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Public Safety Briefs

An Effingham County deputy and his K-9 partner, J.O., were injured in a Friday morning accident on Midland Road.

Deputy Alvin Anthony Cantrell was responding to a call for service about 10 a.m. when a car in front of him abruptly stopped, sheriff’s office spokesman David Ehsanipoor said. The deputy was traveling south on Midland Road toward Ga. 30 with his siren and lights on when the accident occurred.

“The deputy tried to avoid him and ran onto the shoulder,” Ehsanipoor said.

The deputy lost control of the patrol car, flipped and landed upside down in a ditch.

The deputy was trapped inside the car for 30 minutes before fire crews were able to extricate him.

Cantrell was taken by helicopter to Memorial University Medial Center where he remains with serious injuries.

“He is conscious and alert,” Ehsanipoor said.

The K-9 officer was taken to Webb Animal Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

The Georgia State Patrol cited Rhett Cash, of Rincon, for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. The Georgia State Patrol continues to investigate which is protocol for the sheriff’s office on crashes involving a deputy.

Charges added to pair nabbed fleeing stolen car

Two men captured Thursday evening after fleeing in a stolen car on Savannah’s east side have been charged multiple crimes.

About 5 p.m., Jeffery Rashad Williams, 23, and Marvin Bryant Jr., 22, ditched the stolen black Toyota Camry they were driving on East 37th Street once they realized the Savannah-Chatham police helicopter, Eagle 1, was tailing them, said Julian Miller, police spokesman. Both suspects were apprehended within three blocks of the abandoned car.

Both men are convicted felons and have been arrested several times in Chatham County, Miller said.

Williams, identified as the driver, was found hiding under a house on Seiler Avenue and has been charged with theft by receiving, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon during the commission of a crime, fleeing to elude police, obstruction and contempt of court. He was released from Smith State Prison in August 2010 after serving three years for entering auto, Miller said.

Bryant was apprehended on East 38th Street after a confrontation with K-9 officer Flash; he was treated for his injuries at Memorial University Medical Center before being taken to the Chatham County jail. Bryant faces charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and obstruction, Miller said. Bryant was released from Telfair State Prison in October after serving eight months for armed robbery, aggravated assault, entering a vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Miller said along with the vehicle that was stolen in early December from Savannah Toyota, the license plate was stolen and one of the firearms was reported as stolen. Inside the car officers also found several laptop computers, he added, investigators are working to determine where the computers came from.

The investigation is continuing, Miller said, as detectives continue to look into whether the two suspects were involved in a number of other recent crimes in the area.

Shoplifting suspect dies after police chase, crash

BLUFFTON, S.C. — A 19-year-old woman suspected of shoplifting from a Beaufort County outlet mall has died following a police chase.

Jasper County Coroner Martin Sauls III says the 19-year-old woman was found dead inside a car Thursday. Her name hasn’t been released.

The woman was one of four people in a car fleeing Beaufort County deputies, according to reports. A clerk at one of the Tanger outlets was assaulted as he tried to keep four shoplifting suspects from leaving.

Deputies followed the car, which hit a pickup truck and crashed into a tree. Three people ran from the crash and were later arrested. The driver, Craig Scott, has been charged with reckless homicide. He and two passengers were also charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

Compiled by DeAnn Komanecky, Corey Dickstein and the Associated Press.